Japan plans to take steps against 'fake news' by June

The government plans to come up with a set of measures aimed at preventing the spread of false online information, or “fake news,” particularly during elections and disasters, according to government sources.

Officials are seeking to come up with the package around June, which may include requesting that major U.S. technology companies and other information providers voluntarily formulate a code of conduct, the sources said Monday.

While European countries have been staying ahead of such efforts, Japan is hoping to get involved in making international rules by drawing up necessary domestic countermeasures first.

Officials say they recognize the need to be careful about not putting freedom of expression at risk, and they have no plans to enshrine new measures against disinformation into law.

U.S. tech giants, including Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, are expected to be the main focus of the measures to be drafted by a communications ministry panel of experts, the sources said.

At the same time, the government is considering calling on Japanese tech companies such as Line Corp. and Yahoo Japan Corp. that provide news through online apps to improve measures to combat the spread of incorrect information on their platforms.

In April 2018, the European Union asked leading U.S. and other tech and advertising firms to draft a self-regulatory code of practice and both sides agreed on a code in September.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry believes that a similar effort can be produced in Japan.